ok so im in the process or building my H.O motor for more boost ( new crank, eagle rods, wisco 8.5-1 pistons, 086 head ect ect.) IM doing it right before anyone asks. my question is for the guys who are actually running methanol in their cars, i have looked around on other forums and found out lots of info on it. what i want to know is how do people with jbodies like it. How difficult was the install, which kits do u prefer. how much of a gain did u see after tuning for it. and in your opinion was it worth it.
if it can't win a race it better win a show
i guess i should be more specific, how do the guys with quad 4s and 2.4s like it. any advice on using it, and do's and dont's, any help is appreciated
if it can't win a race it better win a show
I'm running it on my car, snow performance stage 1. I had the small tank mounted on my fire wall with the pump below it. It didn't seem to hurt my car. On the dyno I was seeing IAT's around 60-70 with the mp45 on the 2.6" pulley and I think I had the 225ml nozzle in it. I never did a before and after pull but I could feel a huge difference when I touched the s/c. I wish I had some concrete numbers for you but I don't. I am in the process of getting my motor back in the car which is now turbo'ed and I am probably still going to run the meth, but I'll have to wait and see how much of a difference it makes.
i have the aem meth kit with my m45 supercharger.
it works great and is easy as hell to install
Eat my shift
I have the coolingmist kit I got from there ebay store. $225 shipped last year. I did the kit that I used my windshield washer reservor. Mounted my pump under the turn signal light. This is on a M45 setup. Well worth it. When I first added it I was getting IAT's around 180 degree's then with the kit It went down to 140. With the nozzle I'm now running I get a 9-11 degree increase in IAT's regardless of where the temp starts.
FU Tuning
seems like all u guys are running it with super chargers anybody running this with a turbo, and thanks for all the input so far guys. I have read on subaru forums, that guys run meth and water and tune it to help make things safer, lower egts, less knock since its higher octane. less chance of detonation.
if it can't win a race it better win a show
I am hoping to have my car on the dyno next month and I will be doing some pulls with and without it running to see if it is worth using it with my turbo. I'll be able to add a little info when that time comes. I figure my IAT's will be lower with the intercooler and the meth, but I'll give more concrete numbers in a month or so.
ok thanks i will keep an eye on for it then. i should be ready to drop my motor in and start tuning some time this month, just waiting on the cams to get finished being modified,
if it can't win a race it better win a show
Although it's a different application, on my LNF solstice, I often see lower than ambient IAT2 temps with water/meth injection. That alone is worth the price to me, but i could probably be adding significant timing in boost and/or run straight up running more boost. I have the AIS stage 1 kit and install is quite easy if you have a place to mount the pump and a tap for the nozzle.
I will not hesitate to run water/meth injection an all future boosted cars i own.
I have the AEM kit, one of the best on the market
Reason being they give you 3 different size nozzles with it, progressive controller thats boost referenced, not wired and the price is good, the only thing they screw you on is no checkvalve, so you have to buy the checkvalve from devilsown or something like that.
What I mean by boost referenced is theres an actually vaccum line that you plug into the controller, not any of this garbage hacking of your factory sensors like snow, AIS, devilsown and alot of the others do. I know many people with snow that just have the meth randomly turn on while driving. Most progressive controllers are junk. AEM works.
Much of it comes down to your mixture and tune even more than the kit. NEVER EVER EVER run 100% methanol for your mix. I don't care how much power your "buddy" makes running a 90/10 mix, he's the one thats going catch his car on fire or blow his engine later. It is perfectly safe to run 100 percent water. This does not have the power benefit that adding methanol does but it will prevent knock from occurring, methanol allows you to add more timing which gives better power. Also the water that you use must be distilled water, do not use tap water, tap water has all kinda impurities and minerals in it that will gunk up your engine. Also do not use washer fluid. This is another common mistake that people do because they are too lazy to place a tank somewhere for the water meth. Washer fluid is only 10 percent methanol, mostly non distilled water and about 20-30 percent "other" stuff that really shouldn't be in your engine.
Also tank placement, it boggles my mind why anyone would want to put these in the trunk? First off in many cars such as mine where the battery is factory located in the spare tire well it can be a fatal mistake. The last thing you want is a flammable substance right next to your battery. In a jbody there is more than enough room in the front fenderwells to place a tank on one side and then the pump on the other. You can hide everything and its safer and effective without cluttering your engine bay.
Methanol content , I run 67% and 33% water. This is higher than what most manufacturers recommend but its what works for me. The most common content is 50/50 water meth, you cannot go wrong with this, you can make better power with higher methanol content but then you also run the risk of having a more flammable substance as well as a marginal cost difference. I would personally never go above what I'm using now. I know people that run 90/10 and this is just dangerous, not only in terms of being a fire hazard but also to the long term engine life. Methanol by its very nature is HIGHLY corrosive to aluminum. Why is this important? Everything in our engine is made of aluminum, you run higher content with no water theres nothing to wash it away and it will eat away at your internals.
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Wow^^ I didn't have to hack any sensors with my boost referenced AIS install. Who told you that?? AEM??
Most -20 washer fluids are closer to 40% water if your interested. But most tracks sell methanol at about 3 dollars/gallon and distilled water is like 75cents/gallon at walmart, so why run washer fluid? Never run tap water, period. The primary reason is the mineral content will build up and clog the nozzle.
thanks guys, i appreciate all the info, so do u still think its a bad idea to put the tank in the trunk if my battery is in the engine bay
if it can't win a race it better win a show
its more work and looks terrible, but do what you want
perhaps i was confusing companies but theres few of them that actually plug into a vac line rather than tapping a maf or map sensor
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
Hmmm i'd rather tap a vac/boost line than an electrical sensor. Then again I have a boost activated kit, not a progressive one. A progressive kit should come with it's own sensors...
My coolingmist kit has a boost switch and came with a check valve for way less that AEM.
FU Tuning
thats because its not a progressive kit, and the progressive controller looks like home depot special hack job
1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85
can u guys post where u bought ur kits and how much u paid for them, and whether its a progressive kit or not, also and pro's or con's about ur particular kits
if it can't win a race it better win a show
Got my kit from AIS - i think it was 199$ at the time. Stage 1 fender mount kit. No tank included. I see the prices have since gone up (now 239$). It is a single stage boost switch, activated by a vacuum/boost source. I really think the same switch comes with all the non-progressive kits. If i had to do it over, i'd go with a progressive controller. I'd be nice to start the spray at the onset of boost and ramp to full volume around 10psi in my case, but i'm stuck with on/off.
The kit dropped IAT2s on my solstice just as i wanted it to - below ambient in most cases. I run 75% methanol in the winter and 50% methanol in the summer. Remember, per volume, water always cools better, but the engine can only ingest so much of it. In my case, misfiring let me know when it was too much. It makes sense - to much water vapor and the mixture won't burn.
It takes a greater volume of methanol to cool the same as water, but if you're willing to tune, the engine can swallow quite a bit of it.
Anything else, just ask.
